We were all stoked and the weekend was gearing up to be an excellent one. You see, Saturday night was to celebrate Alex's last night as a single man (yes, hard to believe, I know). He wanted to hit the town hard, which we did. I knew that old chaps like us needed more than one day to recover from late nights, hence Sunday was designated as do-nothing day and Monday was climbing.

Unfortunately, we're even older than anticipated (especially me) and when Dominik picked us up at 6:00am, the mood in the car was, let's say, less than enthusiastic. Someone, and I won't say who, even mentioned that perhaps, we should do single pitch climbs at Shippley Upper instead. That didn't float.

So, we carefully examined the topo, Blue Ruin, 195 meters, max grade 24, rap in from Mirrorball, escape ledge after pitch 3, plenty of time ahead of us. Worse case scenario: we can't make it, we rap back down and exit via West Face of Mirrorball or choose another route like Bergermiester. Let's do it!

So back we were in the Grose. Alex roped up for the first pitch and launched into it. The temperature and conditions were ideal. This is a great pitch; have a look at Alex at the crux

Alex at the crux of pitch one (40m, 22) just about to reach the sandy part.

He took care of it in no time. In fact, he did it in 22 minutes and the three of us we on the belay ledge within 40 minutes. This is great climbing: most of it is spend laybacking along within the corner with protection strategically placed. One complain perhaps is that the crux is still quite sandy.

Dominik was looking forward to the second pitch and didn't know what to expect. The beginning is a hard slab -- that suits Dominik well and he deftly made his way up to the small roof about 8 or 10 meters above the belay ledge. That's where the shit hit the fan. In fact, the shit hit the fan continuously for 58 minutes (in case you wonder, we were timing ourselves for fun). Dominik really tried hard to crack that one. Here he is on his n-th attempt:

Dominik trying to beat the roof.

After many such tries, I suggested to aid the move by putting a sling into the ring bolt and stepping into it. That almost worked. Dominik stepped in, grab a high hold (he's 1.90m) pulled through, stepped up both feet on the wall and then, in a moment of inspired panic, grabbed the bolt desperately seeking for another hold for his left hand. I knew things would get worse before getting better as he now was trying to match hand on the bolt (!?!) saying all sorts of untranslatable things in German. Air time followed as surely as night follows day. Exhausted he came down to the belay ledge.

Alex suggested that perhaps we could rap down and climb up Mirrorball instead but I wanted to have a go. "It not always about what you want, dude" Dominik said to me. Sometimes, he says incomprehensible things. Very curious. So up I went, reached the roof, had a couple of goes before making the sling shorter which allowed me to sit on my heel and, filled with adrenaline, with the draw in my mouth, I stepped up, grabbed a high hold, painfully jammed my hand in a groove and quickly clipped in. Yoohoo! This constitutes my very first aid move. M9 would be proud of me.

The rest of the pitch was not easy either. It follows a long seam up to the belay ledge. After 30 meters of strenuous climbing, I reached what could be a hanging belay with a second ring bolt about a meter above the last one and placed inside a cave. I asked Alex if that could be it but we agreed that I was just pass the halfway mark on my 60 meter rope and that the topo states that pitch 2 is 40 meter long. I looked up and saw a ledge at about the right distance. So up I went.

Of course, you'd probably guested it, that was the belay station and I was now on the third pitch, running out of oomph and quickdraws. I started to ask to be lowered down to grab some of the draws I already clipped. I did this until I reached the end of the rope which happens to correspond exactly to the end of pitch 3... just short of the belay ledge. By then I was completely rooted, tired, pumped, call it what you will. I didn't help that Blue Ruin probably sees no traffic (hands up those who have been on it) and that I badly injured my shin when a foothold broke (had to see a doctor yesterday). I don't know how many times I shouted "rock!" during the hour and twelve minutes I spent climbing those two pitches with the broken pieces falling dangerously close to Alex and Dominik.

I belayed Alex and Dominik one at the time from a single bolt and a sling passed around a rocky outcrop and two hours later we were on the halt-way ledge. This was the way out and it was time to go home:

The halfway ledge and our way out to a well deserved beer at Kurrajong Heights.

P2 is a bit punchy in a few spots and dosen't really let up. After the FA, I added 2 bolts where it was ok with pre-knowledge but too blind to be comfortable running it out. I actually found the slab quite hard.

P3 is juggy and steep but a bit loose, P5 is good.

And the escape traverse would be a bit epic without 2 brackets or thin slings. I didn't see anything clipped in the picture

>P2 is a bit punchy in a few spots and dosen't really let up.
A bit punchy?!?

>P3 is juggy and steep but a bit loose, P5 is good.
With hindsight, P3 is excellent. At the time, after injuring my shin, I was afraid that every hold would break on me.

>And the escape traverse would be a bit epic without 2 brackets or thin>slings. I didn't see anything clipped in the picture
We followed the instructions and brought a few brackets in case we had to take French leave there. I clipped a carrot about 6 to 8 meter from the belay and then another fixed hanger about the same distance along before reaching the new Mirrorball lower-off. Wasn't too stressful.

On 7/04/2011 f_ladou wrote:>>P2 is a bit punchy in a few spots and dosen't really let up. >A bit punchy?!?
*well, it isn't a chimney..

>>And the escape traverse would be a bit epic without 2 brackets or thin>>slings. I didn't see anything clipped in the picture>We followed the instructions and brought a few brackets in case we had>to take French leave there. I clipped a carrot about 6 to 8 meter from>the belay and then another fixed hanger about the same distance along before>reaching the new Mirrorball lower-off. Wasn't too stressful.

*it would be without gear though, even standing and drilling felt a bit 'loose'

C'mon Francois, giving yourself a score of 0 isn't right. Zero is a score I'd give the un-adventurous chumps who continually return to their little comfort zones of single pitch sport climbing in the Glen, Barden's and the like. You, my friend, have had some fun, even if you got smoked. That counts for way more than zero. Now go back and finish off the top pitches, the upper 24 pitch is a cracker. Call me if you need beer, pizzas and sleeping bags!
Ado

>Yoohoo! This constitutes my very first aid move. M9 would be proud of me.

Too right!
... and a very good TR read, with good photos too!
;-)

On 8/04/2011 hipster wrote:>C'mon Francois, giving yourself a score of 0 isn't right. Zero is a score>I'd give the un-adventurous chumps who continually return to their little>comfort zones of single pitch sport climbing in the Glen, Barden's and>the like. You, my friend, have had some fun, even if you got smoked. That>counts for way more than zero.

On 8/04/2011 hipster wrote:>C'mon Francois, giving yourself a score of 0 isn't right.
Well, the title suggest another round, right?

>Now go back and finish off the top pitches, the upper 24 pitch is a cracker. >Call me if you need beer, pizzas and sleeping bags!>Ado
The plan is to go back, finish the two top pitches from the half-way ledge, indulge in some high-fives and finish the day leisurely climbing over the Grose Valley. Maybe you'd like to join? But that'll have to wait until my return from la belle France in early May.

On 11/04/2011 mikllaw wrote:>It will be getting chilly by then, avoid windy days. >maybe we can go and do pestosterone instead
Sounds like a plan! I'll be in touch early May when I return. Never been to Mount Banks.

hey guys, alison and i did blue ruin on sun. I'm glad i didnt read your post beforehand. your description was entirely accurate, but it was the best adventure i've had in a long time. i think the 2nd pitch is either 26 or 24-m1... is there a hold in the roof come off mike? or do i just need to harden up. in the picture of dominic going thru the roof there is a scar where his left foot is placed... was there a hold there? we knocked alot of rock off too... at least 10 each. the last pitch was spectacular, would be a great finish to weselburger first 3 pitches. thanks mike

thanks,
On the roof I laybacked facing right where Dominic is in the photo, but very blind. I had lots of inspection whilst drilling of course.
The last pitch goes on a bit doesn't it? I remember there were a few spots where I was sure I could rest, but found it just hastened the pump wherever there was a ledge.
4th ascent

yea it doesnt let up till 42m mark, i kept looking up thinking its gota get easier soon... but no...somehow i managed to pull it off tho, alison almost got it clean also but fell off at the last hard move 5m from the top. such an amazing position, best pitch i've done in ages. doing rutger hauer the week before i thought that was good, which it was, thanks again, but that pitch is in a whole other league. As for the 2nd pitch i was laybacking to the left which wasn't working but didn't want to hang around too long, guess i'll have to go back for another round. cheers

Hey Richie! Glad to hear that you had fun while cleaning up the route :-) Also relieved to know I'm not the only one who needs to harden up on the second pitch! I still have to go back and finish those top pitches...

Hey f_ladou I haven't seem any TR reports from you and your team for a while. Please write more as I always enjoyed hearing about your adventures. Your reports have just the right amount of humor and really psych me up to climb the routes that you have been writing about.

@benjenga. Thanks for your kind words. If there are no trip reports, it's not for lack of enthusiasm but I'm injured at the moment (disc slip) and, also, I'm building a house in the Blueys. Hopefully, I'll have good writing material in 2012! Cheers to all.